because people will do it. i mean, why does Apple Kit-Kat even exist?
OkCharity7285
Money.
creamcolouredDog
One time I changed my gamer tag on Games for Windows Live, and it deleted my Batman Arkham saves.
the_creature_258
They know that morons will keep changing their gamertags so it must be a goldmine.
Eazy12345678
goal is to make money.
boofjensen
I still haven’t updated my cringe username from when I was 15 for this reason.
No-Contract3286
They let you change it once for free but then your stuck with what ever 12 year old you made
byhand97
shadic6051
Wargaming does this too but iirc you have to pay it in ingame premium currency
Lord_Raxyn
If people can change their names easily it can cause various weird issues, it can also be exploited by people who are trying to harass someone specific. Those are usually the reasons why it’s limited.
EIiteJT
Greed
Xyncz
Lol been like that since the 360 days
thedate1981
Console gaming is a scam when it comes to things like changing your tag and having to pay to play online for a game you already paid to play for.
UrdnotZigrin
I changed mine on pc Gamepass for free
antmanfan3911
huh i could have sworn it was free is this new? or did it always cost money?
Recipe-Jaded
been a thing since Xbox 360 and it’s always been $10
TheDeepNoob
At this point just fucking make a new account and lose everything.
Dinjoralo
Microsoft, that’s why.
m270ras
are you worth your weight in gold
ashurbanipal420
It should be free. Douchnozzle6969 shouldn’t have to suffer any longer.
Tall_Leopard_461
Because copos are greedy fucks.
TicTac_No
Humans do dumb shit, and don’t want to live with that dumb shit. This is how humans get away with leaving that dumb shit behind, in a gaming environment. In the real world, people move to another city.
Companies profit off of this knowledge.
This isn’t new behavior. This isn’t limited to games or gaming.
Every company profits off of human misery somehow.
860v2
When I changed my PSN, it listed an entire page of things that could go wrong and/or break. I’d imagine there’d probably be some type of labor cost associated with the increased number of support tickets, email, calls, etc. they have to handle vs. if it was free/unlimited.
Simple explanation that’s not “evil, greedy, corporations bad”.
Nvidiuh
My favorite is changing your name on Steam. Because of some shitty ancient backend server coding, your original account name never changes.
DoubleSpoiler
World of Warcraft
Bob_Bushman
Cause when playing with your new female co- workers at office game night.
The tag you chose when 12 of ‘sistermuncher97’ isn’t all that funny anymore.
Dreadlight_
I remember back in the day, I wanted yo change my username and somehow got past this paywall and changed it for free. There was literally a link that used to bypass it.
Arbszy
It has always been this way, but also money.
TactualTransAm
My account got hacked once and they said I’d have to pay to get the tag changed back. I was so pissed. Ended up getting a free change but the audacity to even suggest I had to pay was insane
real_unreal_reality
Hey taxes are applied next!
StrikerX1360
What godforsaken platform is this
Chunky-Steak
Which platform is this?!
Steam – Change it WHENEVER you want bro.
EpicGames – Hmm, you can change it every, let’s say, 2 weeks?
This one – Money. 🦀
Ok_Gur_1170
because money
i__hate__stairs
QuantumQuantonium
Apart from others claiming its for money, good chance there’s technical reasons not to let people constantly chsnge their names on the platform. The Xbox tag isn’t like a steam name, its like the steam account username which can’t be changed. Changing it would likely involve some back end process to update stats and data as well as check that the name isn’t taken.
Tldr there’s technical and managing reasons to limit players changing names and adding a pricetag is to prevent players from doing it constantly. Its changing a unique identifier rather than a nickname, and at least the service is offered at all and xbox’s systems allow people to change this.
(It would be better to let players choose their own nickname whenever, but inappropriate profiles and names would be more if an issue on Xbox like it is on steam, a problem they I guess would rather avoid the bulk of)
DynamicHunter
The same reason they charge you for basic online services. Because you’re locked into a single company’s ecosystem. Self-imposed monopoly.
Skullzi_TV
Otherwise a ton of people would probably change their gamertag every week to 42069RudeBoy or some shit, then next week BigDickMcGeeOver9000. This way they at least limit the dumb people from having the right to be dumb, which I always agree with.
SonicBJP
Reminds me of the olden days on 360 when Microsoft points were the currency and it was like 800 Microsoft points to change your gamer tag. Did yard work for my grandma to pay for mine back then.
Wadarkhu
What annoys me is they say “you can change it to anything!” So you do, and then you get a bunch of numbers and you *think* it’ll be alright like how discord numbers are greyed out, but they’re not, it just looks like you chose them. Can’t be that hard to grey out the last numbers or at least put them after a hashtag. It suggests it does on the gamertag change page but actually in most games&apps it just all shows up the same colour and I don’t think it even had the hashtag.
I changed mine and hated how it looked, so now I just went back to my old one that does have any numbers on the end because I’ve had it that long. Enjoy the double purchase, Microsoft.
Breklin76
This bits don’t work for free anymore.
eww-fascism-kill-it
Micro$oft. Need i say more?
bopandlean
This is why I bought a $3,000 pc….
Anonymous_Owner01
Have everyone you know report your name as inappropriate. They don’t have actual people reviewing reports, only appeals. They should flag your account and force you to change it. That’s how it was a few years ago anyway.
45 Comments
because people will do it. i mean, why does Apple Kit-Kat even exist?
Money.
One time I changed my gamer tag on Games for Windows Live, and it deleted my Batman Arkham saves.
They know that morons will keep changing their gamertags so it must be a goldmine.
goal is to make money.
I still haven’t updated my cringe username from when I was 15 for this reason.
They let you change it once for free but then your stuck with what ever 12 year old you made
Wargaming does this too but iirc you have to pay it in ingame premium currency
If people can change their names easily it can cause various weird issues, it can also be exploited by people who are trying to harass someone specific. Those are usually the reasons why it’s limited.
Greed
Lol been like that since the 360 days
Console gaming is a scam when it comes to things like changing your tag and having to pay to play online for a game you already paid to play for.
I changed mine on pc Gamepass for free
huh i could have sworn it was free is this new? or did it always cost money?
been a thing since Xbox 360 and it’s always been $10
At this point just fucking make a new account and lose everything.
Microsoft, that’s why.
are you worth your weight in gold
It should be free. Douchnozzle6969 shouldn’t have to suffer any longer.
Because copos are greedy fucks.
Humans do dumb shit, and don’t want to live with that dumb shit. This is how humans get away with leaving that dumb shit behind, in a gaming environment. In the real world, people move to another city.
Companies profit off of this knowledge.
This isn’t new behavior. This isn’t limited to games or gaming.
Every company profits off of human misery somehow.
When I changed my PSN, it listed an entire page of things that could go wrong and/or break. I’d imagine there’d probably be some type of labor cost associated with the increased number of support tickets, email, calls, etc. they have to handle vs. if it was free/unlimited.
Simple explanation that’s not “evil, greedy, corporations bad”.
My favorite is changing your name on Steam. Because of some shitty ancient backend server coding, your original account name never changes.
World of Warcraft
Cause when playing with your new female co- workers at office game night.
The tag you chose when 12 of ‘sistermuncher97’ isn’t all that funny anymore.
I remember back in the day, I wanted yo change my username and somehow got past this paywall and changed it for free. There was literally a link that used to bypass it.
It has always been this way, but also money.
My account got hacked once and they said I’d have to pay to get the tag changed back. I was so pissed. Ended up getting a free change but the audacity to even suggest I had to pay was insane
Hey taxes are applied next!
What godforsaken platform is this
Which platform is this?!
Steam – Change it WHENEVER you want bro.
EpicGames – Hmm, you can change it every, let’s say, 2 weeks?
This one – Money. 🦀
because money
Apart from others claiming its for money, good chance there’s technical reasons not to let people constantly chsnge their names on the platform. The Xbox tag isn’t like a steam name, its like the steam account username which can’t be changed. Changing it would likely involve some back end process to update stats and data as well as check that the name isn’t taken.
Tldr there’s technical and managing reasons to limit players changing names and adding a pricetag is to prevent players from doing it constantly. Its changing a unique identifier rather than a nickname, and at least the service is offered at all and xbox’s systems allow people to change this.
(It would be better to let players choose their own nickname whenever, but inappropriate profiles and names would be more if an issue on Xbox like it is on steam, a problem they I guess would rather avoid the bulk of)
The same reason they charge you for basic online services. Because you’re locked into a single company’s ecosystem. Self-imposed monopoly.
Otherwise a ton of people would probably change their gamertag every week to 42069RudeBoy or some shit, then next week BigDickMcGeeOver9000. This way they at least limit the dumb people from having the right to be dumb, which I always agree with.
Reminds me of the olden days on 360 when Microsoft points were the currency and it was like 800 Microsoft points to change your gamer tag. Did yard work for my grandma to pay for mine back then.
What annoys me is they say “you can change it to anything!” So you do, and then you get a bunch of numbers and you *think* it’ll be alright like how discord numbers are greyed out, but they’re not, it just looks like you chose them. Can’t be that hard to grey out the last numbers or at least put them after a hashtag. It suggests it does on the gamertag change page but actually in most games&apps it just all shows up the same colour and I don’t think it even had the hashtag.
I changed mine and hated how it looked, so now I just went back to my old one that does have any numbers on the end because I’ve had it that long. Enjoy the double purchase, Microsoft.
This bits don’t work for free anymore.
Micro$oft. Need i say more?
This is why I bought a $3,000 pc….
Have everyone you know report your name as inappropriate. They don’t have actual people reviewing reports, only appeals. They should flag your account and force you to change it. That’s how it was a few years ago anyway.
Because if a capitalist can charge, they will.
Because they can